I own blue and white dishes. Normally this isn’t a problem—until I try to find a cute tablecloth that looks good with my dishes. Apparently, blue as a kitchen or dining color has been out for several seasons. The market is flooded with red, green, and aqua. Instead of waiting for blue to come back in, I took matters into my own hands. First I checked the standard tablecloth size for my 36- x 60-inch table. Turns out, a 60- x 84-inch cloth fits tables 36 x 60 to 48 x 72. Then I found this lovely blue indoor/outdoor fabric at Fabric.com. At 56 inches wide, I figured it would work fine because my table was on the smaller end of that range. After that, hemming the fabric and adding pom-pom trim was a cinch. Final dimensions (pom-pom to pom-pom): 57 x 81 inches.

1. First cut a clean edge at one end of the fabric. Measure 83-1/2 inches and cut the other side.

2. Fold over the two long edges 5/8 inch twice, so the raw edge of the fabric is tucked underneath. Iron it flat and pin in place. Repeat on all four sides.

3. Sew about 3/8 inch from the edge. Back-stitch at the ends. Don’t sew farther away from the edge because your stitching will show above the pom-pom trim. Repeat on all four sides.

4. Apply Aleene’s Stop Fraying to the end of the pom-pom trim before sewing. Sew using a zigzag stitch down the middle of the pom-pom trim. Make sure you cover your original seam. Back-stitch at the ends.

5. Cut the pom-pom trim to the right length after you have sewn to the end.

6. Apply Aleene’s Stop Fraying to the end. I used Krazy Glue instead because it’s what I had on hand. I don’t recommend it because it dries stiff and makes the threads translucent. Repeat steps 4-6 on all four sides of the tablecloth.

7. If your layers are getting too thick at the corner to sew in your machine like mine did, abut the ends of the pom-pom trim at the corner instead of overlapping it.

That’s wonderful! I love it!
My kitchen table is in a pretty sad state these days, and I’m feeling that a tablecloth is necessary…and the pompom trim is soooo cute!
I think I may have to whip up one of my own! Thanks for the inspiration!

steph – That flooring is cheap linoleum that was already installed when I moved into my rental. I’m glad it looks good in the photo because it certainly doesn’t look good in person!

I’ve never seen a paper torn floor. Sounds interesting. I’d love to see it if you try it.

A wine cork floor sounds nice, but it could be more trouble than it’s worth. The only experience I have with wine cork flooring is the bath mat I made — and that took hours. I couldn’t imagine how long it would take to cover an entire floor. My mat is holding up well, but the corks are starting to show dirt on the top edge of the sealed and unsealed side, so this may not be a good option in high-traffic areas.

Amy said,

Elen said,

Great idea I like being practical and love sewing! I have recently made my own napkins with mitered corners which stopped the corners being too chunky. As you say you basically just need to trim the corners and then fold them so they don’t overlapp as much. I found the instructions on a website will find it and send it to you.